Mexico Recalculates Number Of Missing To 8,000

Mexico has recalculated the number of people who have gone missing since the start of the country’s drug war in 2006, now saying a total of 8,000 are unaccounted for.

It is unclear how many of the missing were kidnapped or killed by drug gangs, which frequently bury their victims in clandestine graves. While President Enrique Pena Nieto has said drug violence has declined, the number of new missing persons reports during the first two years of his administration has remained steadily high.

Interior Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said Thursday a total of about 28,000 missing-persons reports had been filed between 2006 and 2012, under the previous administration of president Felipe Calderon.

Osorio Chong said about 14,700 of the missing from the previous administration have been found alive and about 750 confirmed dead. Many who had filed missing persons reports didn’t update them when their relative re-appeared, he said.